TWO Manchester restaurants have made Britain’s top 25 coolest restaurants list, published today in The Times.
Both restaurants are (of course) based in the Northern Quarter - Tariff and Dale at number 14, and A Place Called Common at number 19.
The list is curated by food critic and regular columnist Andy Lynes, and is a segment of his four-part series exploring the most interesting places to eat around Britain.
Tariff and Dale, nominee for Best Newcomer at the 2015 Manchester Food and Drink Awards, is a contemporary bar and restaurant with a light-touch fit out that compliments building’s industrial past.
The downstairs 72 cover restaurant has an impressive menu centered around sourdough pizza that’s blasted by the wood-fired pizza oven (Margharita at £7.50). Pizzas are accompanied by a selection of seasonal modern British dishes, with daily game and fish specials, the prices and details of which are dictated daily by the market trade. (Read Neil Sowerby's review of Tariff and Dale here.)
Common are longstanding members of the hip NQ community. Formerly a mis-match den of uber-cool graff, posters and arty types, the eaterie underwent a major image change – the equivalent of a post-pubescent stripping the band posters off their bedroom walls – and re-branded with a sleek scandi-inspired décor. Thankfully, the arty types stayed put, as did Common’s mischievous streak, making it a firm favourite in the NQ.
Common’s in-house bakery serves some of the best doughnuts in Manchester, while their restaurant can cater for hunger pangs pretty much round the clock, with a solid brunch menu, a £6 lunch deal and an accomplished selection of small and big plates for all the times in-between- including a Korean Fried Chicken Burger (£8.50) and Soba Noodles (£9.00).
